The Newest Member of the Crew
by 2blackcatz
Summary: Post Winter. Cress has been acting strangely lately until she introduces Thorne to the newest member of the Rampion Crew. Fluff
1. Chapter 1

Something was different about her. At first Thorne thought he was imagining things because there was no way that things could be going wring in their relationship. hat was what he kept telling himself anyway. But lately it became harder to ignore. He would walk into a room and she would immediately close her port screen or stop speaking part way through whatever conversation she was having on the net screen.

He had tried to ask her about she was hiding but she would only deny it. Thorne didn't even bother trying to go through her portscreen because, spades she was a brilliant hacker and the was no way someone as technically inept as Captain Carswell Thorne would be able to get past the security measures Cress has undoubtedly used.

It had been about a month since Thorne had first noticed this behavior when the reality of their situation became too impossible to ignore; she was leaving him. She had finally figured out that he _didn't_ deserve her and was finally pulling away.

"Captain" the mechanical voice of Darla, the ship's auto control, took him out of his train of thought "We will reach our destination Lanai, Hawaii in approximately 30 minutes."

"Err- thanks Darla." He replied, making his way to the cockpit to prep for landing "you hear that Cress? Landing in paradise in half an hour. Can you make sure the antidote is ready to go once we touch ground?".

He knew the regular charisma was missing from his voice, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Every time they landed recently, he became consumed with the fear that it was their last stop before Cress found the place she would want to stay instead continuing on in their mission.

"Got it!" Cress replied over the intercom in an excited tone. "OH, Captain, I forgot to tell you but I have to meet someone while in Hawaii so I won't be back on the rampion until later"

Who did she know in Hawaii? As far as Thorne new, Cress's friends where still in their respective homes. There haven't been any reports of the Eastern Common Wealth Emperor of the former Lunar queen coming their way. And Wolf and Scarlet were in the middle of their harvest season on the farm so he _knew_ they weren't in Hawaii.

"Uh sure" not knowing what else to say "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No!" She said a little to quickly "I mean – you should take some time off and enjoy Hawaii while we're here. I'll be fine."


	2. Chapter 2

When they had finished the drop of of the antidotes to the medical center, Thorne tried to relax. He went to and sat in the sand but couldn't get his mind to stop turning the same questions over and over again.

 _Who was she meeting? Why she hiding from him? Why hadn't she wanted him to come along with her? How much longer would she be avoiding him?_

That last question was hard for him. As long she was avoiding him there would always be distance between them. But if she was avoiding him at least she was still _there_. As much as Thorne hated admitting this to himself, but as much as he hated that she was keeping secrets from him, he would take the awkwardness and uncertainty any day as long as she was still there.

 _Spades_ , when did he become such a sap?

After some time had passes, Thorne realized he wouldn't be able to enjoy the ocean as much as he would normally would and headed back to the Rampion. Upon entering the hallway that led to the personal quarters Cress's voice could be heard filtering from her room.

As he approached her door to ask her how her time alone went, her words seem to freeze him in place.

Anger and dread filled him. She wasn't planning on leaving the ship. She was bringing someone new. She was leaving him for whoever was in her room with her and planned on letting him stay with her, on _his ship_. Before he could hear the response of this new "adorable" cad, Thorne barged into her room, ready to confront the man who dared to try to take Cress away from him or join their mission on _his ship_ but was shocked by the scene he was met with.

He had expected some guy to be in her bunk with her. He assumed he would be breaking some sort of intimate moment up in order to fight for his girl. What he had not expected was to walk in to Cress's room with her sitting on the floor, stroking the hair of a small… kitten.

"Oh, Captain you're back!" Cress exclaimed as she got to her feet, the small animal in her arms.

"Cress…? What is

"I got you a gift! When I was on the satellite, I had read about this island that has thousands of cats you can go visit. And I remembered how you told me you had always wanted a real pet but only had robotics ones. So when I learned we were coming here, I got in contact with the local animal adoption agency and been working on get clearance to adopt this guy for you!" Cress was smiling at him as she explained all this, but it began to falter when he didn't say anything. Didn't react to the long babbled tale of why there was a kitten in their home. "Is it okay? I can take her back to the shelter if you want me to."

Her uncertainty seemed to be what Thorne needed to force him back into reality as he quickly replied "Aces, no. It's just that, well I thought you were getting ready to leave m-the Rampion."

"Why would I do that?"

"The secrets, hiding full conversations from me. All the cryptic behavior?" Thorne offered skittishly.

"I'm sorry about that." It was Cress's turn to seem nervous "I just wanted the cat to be a surprise."

"Well I love" Thorne reassured her as he picked up the small grey tabby cat up from her arms. "does she have a name yet?"

"Not yet, I thought we could do that together."

And so for the next few hours they took turns thinking of different names for their newest member. Some were serious and stuffy, some were silly, but eventually they seemed to decide on one.

"You know, we're not half bad at this naming thing" Thorne murmured to Cress who was now sitting on his lap. "Maybe we should try it some more later". He said with a suggestive raising of his eyebrows.

The blush that blossomed across Cress's face "And here I thought I was the hopeless romantic". Thorne didn't give her any response. Just happy to have his girl and their new member of their crew with him.


End file.
